Field craft for the rainforest

The short version

Rainforest wildlife watching

Danum Valley protects 438 square kilometres of unlogged lowland rainforest where the dense canopy intercepts most sunlight. Bornean gibbons call every dawn and orangutans are seen on most stays if you adapt to the dark understorey. The difference between a quiet walk and a day of sightings comes down to mastering these practical field habits.

If you want to see more wildlife in Sabah you need to slow down. The instinct is to cover as much ground as possible to increase your chances. The opposite is true in the rainforest. Animals hear you long before you see them. If you march along the trail you will only see the species that tolerate noise. The most successful approach is to take a few quiet steps and stop to wait. When you stop moving your own noise ceases and the forest soundscape returns. You start to notice the small movements in the leaves and the distant calls. A slow pace also prevents you from overheating in the high humidity.

Quiet walking and regular pauses

Walking in a group multiplies the collective noise. A snapping twig or a heavy footstep alerts wildlife for hundreds of metres. Keep your voices low and step carefully to avoid dry leaves and loose branches. If the group is noisy it pays to hang back a few paces or ask the guide to pause. Pausing often is the foundation of field craft. Stand still beside a fruiting tree or a water source and let the animals come to you. The longer you wait the more the forest reveals itself. The quiet approach is how guides find elusive species like the terrestrial pittas that forage in the leaf litter.

Listening for wildlife

Listening is the main way to locate wildlife before you see it. The dense foliage hides most movement so your ears are your best tool. The forest has a predictable soundscape. Bornean gibbons call between 4:30am and 5:30am to establish territories before the thermal winds rise. Between 6am and 8:30am you can hear the heavy wingbeats and hooting of rhinoceros hornbills leaving their roosts. By midday birds call less in the heat and the high-pitched sound of cicadas takes over. Learn to listen for the snap of a branch or the rustle of leaves overhead. The sound of falling fruit often gives away a feeding orangutan or a troop of red leaf monkeys. If you hear a sudden disturbance stop and wait to see what caused it.

Footprints and dead branches

Guides do not just look up into the trees. They read small disturbances on the forest floor to understand what passed by. Identifying footprints and scat tells them what is active in the area. A deep soil churn indicates a foraging bearded pig while a wider footprint belongs to a pygmy elephant. Civet scat is usually found on elevated logs or rocks as a territorial marker. Guides also look for the pitta leaf-flip where terrestrial birds have thrown dead leaves backward to expose the wet soil. They scan the midstory for movement and check the canopy edge against the sky. They constantly look up at a 45-degree angle to spot widowmakers. These are massive dead branches caught in the lianas that pose a physical danger.

Eyeshine and red light

Night drives and walks offer the chance to see nocturnal species like the Sunda clouded leopard and the slow loris. Guides locate these animals by their eyeshine. This is the light reflecting off the tapetum lucidum behind the animal's retina. To see eyeshine hold the torch close to your eyes so its beam follows your line of sight. Holding the torch at the bridge of your nose ensures the reflected beam returns directly to your pupils. Different animals produce different colours. Civets and felids show yellow-green eyeshine while crocodilians reflect bright red. Western tarsiers lack a tapetum lucidum so they produce no eyeshine at all.

Guides require red-filtered light when observing nocturnal primates. Most nocturnal mammals including the slow loris are dichromats. They lack functional long-wavelength opsin genes and cannot perceive deep red light as a bright colour. White light overwhelms their rod-dominated retinas and causes distress. Red light minimises the startle response and allows you to observe their natural behaviour.

Dark clothes and leech gaiters

Clothing choices affect your comfort and your visibility to wildlife. Dark greens and browns blend into the shadows and help conceal your presence. Bright colours stand out against the foliage and alert animals from a distance. Managing your scent is equally important in the humid environment. Avoid strong perfumes or scented deodorants that carry on the breeze. Terrestrial leeches are common on the trails. You need tightly woven gaiters to keep them off your ankles. Roll the leech off your skin with a fingernail to break the suction seal rather than pulling it. Pulling tears the skin and invites infection.

Store your optics carefully to manage condensation. Moving from an air-conditioned room into the humid air causes lenses to fog immediately. Leave your binoculars outside in a secure shaded area to acclimate for 30 minutes before dawn.

Low light binoculars

The right binoculars are essential for the understory. An 8x42 pair gives you a brighter view than a 10x42 pair in the dark forest. The exit pupil of an 8x42 is 5.25 mm which matches the dilation of the human pupil in low light. A 10x42 restricts the light transmission with a 4.2 mm exit pupil. The 8x magnification also provides a wider field of view to track erratic movement in the dense vines. A close-focus capability of under 2 metres is critical for inspecting insects and reptiles safely. Enclosed chest harnesses have replaced neck straps to prevent the optic from swinging into lianas and to offer protection from sudden rain.

Patient wildlife observation

The discipline of staying with one animal yields better results than chasing the next sighting. When you find a feeding orangutan or a resting sun bear the instinct is to take a quick photograph and move on. If you stay and observe you will see the natural behaviours that most people miss. You might watch a primate build a nest or a bird return to feed its young. Staying quiet in one location also allows the surrounding forest to normalise. Other animals that fled when you arrived may return to the area. Patience is the core of field craft.

Expert local guides

Your guide is an expert at reading the environment and predicting animal behaviour. Work with them rather than walking beside them in a way that blocks their line of sight. Follow their pace and stop when they stop. They rely on their hearing so keep conversation to a minimum while walking. If you spot something point it out quietly. Do not use high-intensity white light to illuminate an animal they have found with a thermal monocular. The sudden bright light startles the animal. Thermal imaging cannot see through wet foliage so guides use it to scan open riverbanks and the canopy edge before confirming the species with indirect red light. Tell your guide which animals interest you most and they will tailor the walks to those habitats.

Permits and travel insurance

Travel and health insurance is advised for any visit to Danum Valley and cover that includes emergency evacuation is sensible in a place this remote. Permits are arranged with your stay. Tell the team which species matter most to your trip and they will suggest the lodge and the trail strategy to match.

--- Sources referenced on this page: South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership; published research. Facts verified 9 September 2026.